DNA almost perfect match (General)

by joss, Saturday, April 18, 2009, 12:29 (5702 days ago) @ monfamilies

I went to a workshop on DNA testing at the recent WDYTYA show. While the speaker agreed that it is no substitute for research, he did say that it could be useful in particular for families with unusual names. However, even this can be fraught with problems. The speaker, name of Swinfield, had his done and has an incredibly rare marker, so he encouraged other Swinfields who he was in contact with to do likewise. All the others had the same marker as each other - but not with him!
So he went back to the censuses. It appears that, several generations back, Mr and Mrs Swinfield had several children and a lodger, Mr Brown. By the following census, Mr S had died and Mr B was head of household, with Mrs S and kids still there.
Of course nothing can be proved, but the suspicion is that Mr B fathered the speaker's ancestor (and possibly a sibling or two as well) and that it was he who had the rare DNA marker.

Joss